Publisher

Piper Carter

the relationship between the ﬁeld of production and the ﬁeld of consumers is created and sustained.aesthetically irrelevant forces such as snobbery, elitism, trendiness and a fear of lagging behind the arbiters of prevailing taste are obvious all along the production–consumption continuum. the fashion magazine is a special institution that serves that reception and thus brings about a fruitful logic between producer and consumer. legitimizing fashion and the fashion world in cultural terms, magazines help transform fashion as an abstract idea and aesthetic discourse into everyday dress.thestudioArena is a concept i have been working on for years. at first my aim was to create a space celebrating women of color in fashion. as i became more involved in community organizing i realized the need for creating a space celebrating sustainable fashion marketed to women of color focusing on values & principles would be more useful to our planet. so in addition to being a hub of creativity thestudioArena hosts information about how we can be beautiful, stylish, groomed with care, & eco-friendly.Artist Statement:I’ve worked as a freelance assistant for many of the top photographers in the world, and as a studio assistant at three of the top studios in the world: Pier 59, Industria, and SPLASHLIGHT STUDIOS in New York City.
I was an assistant to maverick photographer STEVEN KLEIN for three years. I worked on the the most famous projects of his career including the series with Brad Pitt and the other series with Madonna.
Working with him was wonderful. It allowed me to travel the world, learn about lighting, art, film, and painting. Later, I assisted David Seidner (r.i.p.) on his last two projects before he passed away, including a series of famous portraits of Naomi Campbell and Leontine Price, among others, and a series for Vanity Fair paying homage to the painter John Singer Sargent.
In addition, I also assisted many other critically acclaimed photographers including Craig McDean, Andrew Dossunmu, John Akehurst, Max Vadukul, Torkil Gudnason, Patrick Cariou, Sean Ellis, Nicolas Moore, Ranjit Grewal, Regan Cameron, Gilles Bensimon, Iris Brosch, Karina Tiara, Kenneth Willardt, Richard Corman, Robert Maxwell, Jack Guy, Kwaku Alston, Wayne Maser, Sioux Nesi, Fabio Chizzola, and Daniella Federici. Working with these amazing photographers, I learned to think and rethink what is there in front of the lens and sometimes what is not, and how to create an image of a character that is believable and truthful, even if it is a reality that exists only on the page.
I enable the viewer to see the creature inside and how light makes it come alive. My main visual inspirations are the great painters of the Northern Renaissance, particularly Vermeer, and his use of posing and lighting, assumed honesty with his subjects, and his ability to make complex compositions look simple.
Gordon Parks also played a pivotal role in my development as a photographer. As a source of inspiration he embodies the artist as thinker, visionary, pioneer, scholar, and revolutionary figure.
My artistic philosophy: I believe in the idea that the woman is to be cherished, respected, and revered. There is power and beauty in a dignified woman, who is sexy, yet soft, and intelligent, not merely demure, docile, or fragile.
My subjects own their strength and femininity simultaneously. My ideal Beauty comes from the strength, dynamism, and charisma of the individual. My images celebrate life and embrace the spirit within while reaching beyond the moment of reality and creating a new reality or fantasy.Piper Carter: Visionary. Bio:

I was featured on Tyra Bank’s VH1 show “The Shot”. I came out as one of the final 7 contestants. I had the best picture 4 times (out of four episodes), and I was chosen as team leader twice. It was a great experience and reinforced my passion for photography. I was featured in OK! Magazine, TV GUIDE, US WEEKLY, and also SIRIUS RADIO, XM RADIO

I was assistant to STEVEN KLEIN for three years. I’ve shot editorials for BRITISH ELLE, NEW YORK TIMES, TRACE, SPIN, & other publications including emerging talent for ISLAND DEF JAM MUSIC GROUP. My commercial experience consists of ad Campaigns for MCCANN ERICKSON, CANDIES, The Ad Council.

Graduating from FIT in May ’07 with my BFA in Photography & Digital Media, I completed an internship at Vogue Magazine in the Photo Department assisting the photo research team with editorial content for the magazine and the Poiret exhibition which was featured at the re-opening of the METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART in the COSTUME INSTITUTE.

I have covered behind the scenes of the collections at OLYMPUS Fashion Week for AOL’s Stylelist.com & MERCEDES BENZ Fashion Week. My videos of the Maria Cornejo collection were featured on French Vogue’s website the past two seasons and my most current work was presented in Styleline, Ambassador, & ESSENCE.

I also am co-Owner of 5e Gallery, Multimedia Artist for Jessica Care Moore’s Black Women Rock, a Founding member of Cosmic Slop a Michigan based Black Rock Coalition, & Co-Creator of theFoundation for Women in Hip Hop, a Founding member of the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition, Artist with the Detroit Future Media Collective, Adult Ally for the 5e~Heru Detroit Future Youth program, & Artist in Residence for Detroit Future Schools.

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The aim of thestudioArena is to create a platform to highlight the importance of fashion — especially “experimental” and sustainable fashion — within current critical discourses. Through interviews with a range of artists, designers, writers and curators, as well as through other planned projects and exhibits, we hope to foster a dialogue between theory and practice across disciplines. We investigate the relationship between style and identity.

We are primarily an online community of contributors.

For more information please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Fashion is increasingly a visual part of our global reality.
the studioArena explores moving fashion beyond the development of European mercantile capitalism, commodity fetishism, and the politics of production (the way fashion emphasizes consumption at the expense of production.

Fashion has always played a leading role in constructing images and meanings during periods of rapid social, economic and technological change. It can act out instability or loss, or it can stake out the territory of new social and sexual identities.